Due to the expansion of single-person households and the popularization of convenience store foods, the demand for processed foods that allow the consumers to conveniently substitute a meal has been increasing. Further, unlike the foreign countries where one meal is taken with a main food, Koreans can feel satisfactory only if rice, soup, and side dishes are served together due to the Korean dinner style. In addition, due to the distribution characteristics, ambient-temperature distribution products that may be kept relatively easily as compared with cold chains can improve the convenience of the consumers. The eco-friendly property of the packaging members also is an important item in aspects of recent packaging.
Containers have been developed to satisfy the above needs of the consumers. The forms of the containers largely include cups, instant rice, subsidiary foods contained in source pouches, and shrink films.
As illustrated in FIG. 5A, an existing container for complex instant foods is configured such that the uppermost end of a cup container 1 is covered by a cap 2 such that the contents are not popped out of the cup container 1 after instant rice (not illustrated) and other subsidiary foods F are put into the cup container 1, and a container for cup ramen or other complex instant foods also is configured such that the contents (noodles, soup, and the like) are put into the cup container and a contraction covers the outermost part of the container after the upper end of the cup container is sealed by a lead film.
Accordingly, the consumers have to remove a cap, a contraction film, a lead film and the like in stages, and the use of the unnecessary packaging members increases manufacturing costs and wastes.
Meanwhile, a packaging container as illustrated in FIG. 5B is known as a container that packages instant rice or another main food 3′ and other subsidiary foods F′ together. The packaging container is configured such that the subsidiary foods F′ are accommodated in the cup container 1′, a cap 2′ covers an opening at an upper end of the cup container 1′, the main food 3′ is disposed on the cap 2′, and the cup container 2′ and the main food 3′ are packaged by using a separate packaging member 4′ while being disposed one on another.
The packaging container may package the main food 3′ and the subsidiary foods F′ at once, but the cap 2′ that covers the cup container 1′ and the packaging member 4′ are necessary.
Further, as illustrated in FIG. 5C, a container in which all of a main food 3″ and subsidiary foods F″ are accommodated in the cup container 1″ and an upper end of the cup container 1″ is covered by a cap 2″ such that the main food 3″ is not separated is known. The packaging of the container is simple because the main food 3′ and the subsidiary foods F′ are accommodated in the cup container 1″, but a film that encloses the cap 2″ covers the upper end of the cup container 1″ and the whole container is still necessary.
The packaging containers can package complex foods, but manufacturing costs and wastes still increase due to the inconvenience of removing a lead film or a cap by the consumers and use of unnecessary packaging members.